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Some photos of the refurbished Aspire lounge at Luton Airport

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I have memories of spending a long afternoon in the (as was) Servisair Lounge at Luton Airport many years ago, waiting for a delayed easyJet flight.  I remember it as functional without being exciting.

The lounge has recently had a major facelift and is now an Aspire lounge.

Reader Nick sent me a couple of pictures from a recent visit and it looks good.  He said that the food was better than the British Airways Galleries Club lounges at Heathrow, in his view.

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He was also intrigued by the room of ‘snooze pods’ they have!

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You can access the lounge for free with a Priority Pass (which comes free with American Express Platinum, or you can buy one separately) or Lounge Club (two passes free with the free American Express Preferred Reward Gold).  Alternatively, you can pre-book for cash via the Aspire website.

With Stansted also now having a brand new Priority Pass lounge, the reasons for heading over to Heathrow keep shrinking ….


Getting airport lounge access for free from a credit card

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, here are the three options to get FREE airport lounge access via a credit or charge card:

American Express Platinum card Amex

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here

You also get access to Plaza Premium, Delta and Eurostar lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

Nectar American Express

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with two free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here

Additional lounge visits are charged at £20.  You get two more free visits for every year you keep the card.  

There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus.  Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard

A huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free LoungeKey card, allowing you access to the LoungeKey network.  Guests are charged at £20 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.

Comments (9)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • Sasha says:

    I’ve been there last month, food was awful (just some cup-a-soup and snacks), as in pretty much all lounges operated by Swissport. I struggle to see how that can be compared to BA GC.

    • Nick says:

      I was there during breakfast time so that’s what I was comparing BA GC to as I see the breakfast at BA GC awful.

  • Smid says:

    I was there a few months ago, and there certainly wasn’t much food (then again, my first visit to East Midlands aspire saw pies and pasties, so that could have changed). Better than BA Galleries? Well, I know its not great there, but I’d not rate pies and pasties better than a buffet, despite how canteen like it is…

    Also note that certain days of the week, for a few hours mid afternoon, this lounge is overtaken by the lacompagnie new york flight. I had to charm my way in last time when there by myself…

  • Kelly says:

    I’ve used this lounge a few times this year and the food has always been better than the BA lounge especially the gluten free options and the staff were always polite and helpful.

  • oyster says:

    Went to this lounge in its old days a few years back and it had the most horrendous dragon. I was read the riot act by her very publicly for putting a biscuit in my bag for the flight.
    Upon returning a few months later I think she recognised me and scowled a lot. I may have opened a lot of beer on that 2nd visit and not drunk very much. Childish perhaps, but felt a decent point made!

  • Lady London says:

    I’d love to believe this is true. Lack of lounge is one reason I have avoided Luton for several years.

    • Will says:

      Luton have always had a lounge and it really isn’t that bad

      however the experience you get really depends on the time of day you go.

      When the improvement work was going on the lounge was half the size it was before and last time we went was at total capacity, it was awful and not relaxing at all.

      We tend to fly from there once a year and use our gold card passes when taking a short break as its our local airport :o)

  • Naf says:

    On a recent trip, I was happy to find that they offer some kosher milk in the fridge and a variety of Israeli papers.

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.